1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to a communication system, an information agent method and a recording medium for providing a product or a service at a site on the Internet.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventionally, a method of distributing a free sample of a product or a service to a potential customer has been widely used for promoting the sales. A research card may be attached to the sample. A provider may analyze a result of the research statistically about tastes of customers and utilize the result for developing a new product or service. The provider can also perform a test for each customer and propose a product or a service suitable for the customer. In addition, the provider may send a direct mail to the customer at the address written in the research card for sales promotion.
For example, a cosmetician company may distribute a sample of their cosmetic products at a place such as a shopping center or send the sample to customer's addresses. Customers who received the sample may try the sample, answer the questions in a research card attached to the sample and send the research card back to the cosmetician company. The cosmetician company may propose a suitable product to the customer in accordance with the research card.
However, unselective distribution of the sample to customers can cause a large amount of waste in labor costs, portage costs, communication costs, and the samples. Recently, many kinds of products or services whose target customers are narrowed have been designed. Therefore, it is important to select potential customers to be distributed a sample.
There is a method of opening a web page at a site on the Internet for transmitting information about products or services and to send samples to users who have got access to the web page.
Such users who have got access to the web page likely have an interest in the company or their products or services, so there is high possibility that the users purchase a product or a service of the company. Namely, in order to distribute a sample efficiently, it may effective to narrow the target to the users who have got access to the web page.
However, there are many web pages that transmit information about products or services on the Internet. Therefore, the number of accesses to the web page by users who have appetite for buying a product or a service is usually smaller than the number the provider expects.
Moreover, even if the user gets access to the Web site, it is possible that the user does not teach his or her name and address to the provider because such private information can leak from the web page or can be used for undesired invitation. In this case, the provider cannot send a sample to the user.
Therefore, by this method, sufficient effect of sales promotion cannot be expected.